


Bait and Switch

by Zerrat



Category: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: Alternate Universe - Buddy Cops, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Community: fangrai-forever, Crossdressing, Established Relationship, F/F, FangRai February
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-06
Updated: 2013-02-06
Packaged: 2017-11-28 10:06:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/673207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zerrat/pseuds/Zerrat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Buddy Cop AU. When Gran Pulse's most famous chocobo rider, Cloud Strife, comes forward with a series of macabre letters detailing his death, Lightning finds herself playing the role of Strife as she and Fang attempt to draw Slasher S into the open.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bait and Switch

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this thing can be blamed on [eva_cybele](http://archiveofourown.org/users/eva_cybele/pseuds/eva_cybele), who once prompted 'crossdressing' when we were doing a writing workshop. The first scene was completed, but the fic remained incomplete and behind f-lock on my LJ until I decided to fish it out for [FangRai February](http://fangrai-february.tumblr.com/) and the guys over at tumblr. 
> 
> Major thanks to [Swampert653](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Swampert653/pseuds/Swampert653) for the beta, and for putting up with my nonsensical idea.

Lightning scanned the busy restaurant carefully as she seated herself at the table. Even after four whole days of looking this way, Lightning still felt incredibly self-conscious, and she barely stopped herself from touching the short-hewn hair at the back of her head again. Serah was going to kill her, no matter that Lightning felt much the same way about the new, bleached-and-spiky look. She felt like an electrified porcupine, and all the hair cement she'd had to use to meet her ends had given her a stabbing headache. 

_'It has to look authentic' my ass._ Lightning scowled, before tilting her head back. She ran another critical eye over the tightly-packed restaurant, thoughtful. 

There was no sign of Tifa, yet. She quickly lowered her eyes back to the table again, fixing her gaze on the basket of breadsticks the waiter had placed before her. Strife's usual frown was easy enough to emulate, provided she didn't forget herself. After all, as far as Lightning was concerned, there wasn’t a lot of personality to Gran Pulse's most famous chocobo racer.

The hair, the clothes, the ridiculous situation – even the fact that she was being strutted out to use as bait for a very dangerous man – it would have been all easy enough to handle. She'd done stings and under-cover ops before. It had been part of the job. 

No, what made this particular operation so Eden-damned unbearable was the fact that her partner-in-crime was currently guffawing into the earpiece Lightning was wearing, and cracking hideously bad jokes about how well Lightning could pass for Strife.

_"So, does this mean you and Strife were separated at birth? Hey, it could be worse. It certainly explains your attitude, love."_

Fang, currently seated in her car out in the restaurant's car park with their shoddy equipment and surveillance gear, was bored out of her mind, and felt that it was necessary to talk Lightning's ear off as a way of entertaining herself. While the growing familiarity between them was comforting, Lightning knew that a high-stakes operation was hardly the time and place for it. 

The net they'd set had been the last crazy, desperate trick they'd had up their sleeves, and Lightning was not about to blow it. After Cloud Strife had approached the Gran Pulse force, seeking _somebody_ to put an end to the streams of macabre letters, filled with loving detail on Cloud's planned death... It had been allocated to Lightning and Fang to deal with, in the 'too hard' basket. While she and Fang had accepted the task at Hilda's urging, at the time they'd had no clue of just how far down the rabbit hole the thing went. 

Fang, like some sort of dog with a bone, had uncovered information regarding _other_ murders. Same modus operandi. Same letters. Same result every time. Police Chief Hilda, in the moments of spare time she’d given them, had mentioned the name the investigations division had been quietly calling this killer – Slasher S. Never mind the pathetic name, because the target was as serious as it got. 

Their plan, this time, was simple enough. After discussing the matter with Hilda, they had taken the real Strife to somewhere safe, somewhere he'd never be found. In his stead, Lightning had disguised herself as him in order to lure the slasher out. The trap would spring, she and Fang would apprehend S, and in theory they'd all go home happy. 

Four days into the operation, things weren’t looking so fantastic, no matter how convincing Fang claimed Lightning looked. 

The table jostled, and Lightning looked up sharply as Strife’s girlfriend, Tifa Lockhart, seated herself on the opposite side. Tifa had so far put a lot of faith in Lightning and Fang's investigation. 

"Sorry I'm so late, uh… Cloud." Tifa's smile looked a little strained, as Lightning looked her up and down quickly. Tifa was dressed up, and she really looked like she was meeting her boyfriend at their favourite restaurant in Paddra. Lightning nodded then, satisfied that Tifa would continue to uphold her end of this sick charade. 

"It's fine," Lightning replied tonelessly, critically scanning the room again while feigning Cloud's usual visage of apathy. "You doing alright?"

"Cloud… your friend. Is he all right?" Tifa's voice lowered, and she leaned surreptitiously across the table. “Is he safe?”

"He's fine," Lightning replied shortly, and frowned. Tifa knew the rules – she was not meant to be bringing up the subject of Strife so blatantly, not while they were out in public like this. If the target caught wind that Lightning was not Cloud, then they'd lose this game of cat and mouse, and they'd be back to square one. 

Despite the unvoiced warning, Tifa still didn’t seem to want to drop the topic. A part of Lightning could hardly blame the woman – between the death threats, the letters, the home-invasions, Cloud being spirited off to a safehouse that allowed no contact, and the fact that this ridiculous bait and switch idea had been going on for days… Lightning had to wonder if she’d be at the end of her rope, too, if this had happened with Fang. 

Lightning met Tifa’s pleading eyes, and inclined her head sharply. So long as they kept it on the low, Lightning would try to ease Tifa’s growing fears.

"We’ve been given further assistance by the Gran Pulse investigations division, as luck would have it." Lightning pressed her lips together, remembering how much wrangling had occurred between Hilda and the upper echelons of the force. Given that her and Fang's position and role in the Gran Pulse was vague at best... "Going through their old case files, Fang has managed uncovered a few more details on exactly who this guy is. Strife… he certainly hasn’t been the first one."

_"Fine, whatever. Blow our cover, if that stalker-slash-homicidal momma’s boy is listening at the next table. See if I care about your sorry arse – oh wait, I do."_

Lightning carefully ignored Fang’s outraged interjections, choosing instead to continue focusing on Tifa’s reactions. 

"Have any survived?" Tifa's voice was blunt, but concerned. As she should be, Lightning noted. Her boyfriend was being stalked by a homicidal madman, who by all accounts was incredibly successful in carrying out his threats. It made Lightning wonder what the hell they were doing, when the only thing Lightning was armed with was her survival knife and Fang was the only backup they could reasonably expect if he showed up. 

The plan was insane, but it was the best they had.

 _"Tell her the pictures speak for themselves."_ Fang snorted in derision. _"Now those were a few images I didn’t need to take to bed with me, last night. Lucky you were there to distract me, right?"_

"Not that we know of," Lightning said, firmly, carefully rephrasing Fang's harsher statement, but the implications were still as morbid. Tifa’s expression clouded over with doubt again. 

"Look. Don’t let it get to you. We just have to keep this up. If he doesn’t take the bait, we just try another approach." Lightning sipped her drink, some obscenely sweet and alcoholic cocktail, one that Strife was known to be fond of. "Nothing to it but to do it."

"Right…" Tifa agreed, smiling at her, but the woman still seemed subdued. They sat in a semi-uncomfortable silence, before the waiter stopped by their table to take their orders. Lightning numbly gave her own, watching Tifa grimace and add hers on, too.

This situation was not fair, not for any of them. If they'd had any further options, they would have taken them, Lightning told herself, staring down at the paper napkins that the waiter had placed in the table.

 _"Lightning. Sweetheart."_ Fang’s voice sounded slightly frustrated, even over the poor-quality comm. link. _"You’re meant to be Lockhart’s boyfriend. My profile says he’s meant to be quiet but fun, not an Etro-damned mute. Stop looking like you’ve swallowed a raw rust pudding, and just talk. Throw out a "let’s mosey" if you have to. Sheesh."_

Lightning’s eyebrow twitched at Fang’s latest demand, refraining from mentioning that quietness was a good thing when trying to impersonate Cloud Strife. Fang did raise a good point though - the man had his quirky moments. She cleared her throat uncomfortably as the silence stretched on.

"It’s either the same guy, or he’s got a slew of copycats, which is a whole other can of worms to deal with." Lightning smiled tightly, fishing around for something to lighten the mood with. Something Fang mentioned, as they'd pulled up at the Paddra Highview not five minutes ago, came to mind. "Fang has come up with an… interesting theory about the target."

"Which is?"

"Mother issues." Lightning took another drink, trying not to wince at the taste of sugar. How could Strife stand this stuff? "She hasn’t got a lot of evidence to back that hunch up with, though."

_"It's called an Oedipus Complex, and you’re butchering the elegance of last night’s epiphany."_

Tifa laughed a little, though it still sounded forced. "That one is definitely one of Fang’s strangest."

Lightning made a small sound of amusement. That had been why she’d mentioned that one, and not the darker ones that Fang had brought up last night. Corruption and god complexes and all-encompassing hatred of those he fixated on… 

Fang had even gone so far as to claim Strife was a goner, before Lightning had told her to quit her brooding and do something constructive. Fang, in her usual fashion, had then made it her mission to be as distracting and unconstructive as possible. Not that Lightning was complaining - at least it had gotten Fang to stop fretting about the job for a while. 

"Just watch yourself," Lightning warned Tifa, frowning as the seriousness of the situation returned to her. "You're capable, but this guy…"

 _He’s something else entirely._

_"Hey."_ Fang teased in her ear, _"Don’t get too attached to her, 'Cloud'. You're well spoken for, remember?"_

Lightning scoffed quietly, leaning back as the food was finally delivered. 

They traded small talk for a few minutes, attempting to appear perfectly natural in spite of the strain. Lightning tried to keep one eye on her surroundings and her mind on her act, but it was difficult. Eden, they didn’t even know what the target looked like, let alone when he was going to strike. A part of Lightning was glad of Fang’s continued presence in her ear, and the fact that the woman wasn’t far. If things went to hell, Lightning could count on- 

The back of her neck began to prickle, the slightest stirring of alarm, and Lightning’s head snapped around. With baited breath and a tight jaw, she scanned the busy restaurant again. Nothing seemed to be out of order, but… Lightning breathed out again, slowly, the tension bleeding off her as she surreptitiously checked that she still had her survival knife on her. 

"Cloud? What is it?" Tifa asked, frowning and starting to look around the restaurant herself.

 _"Light, you’re blowing it. Wolf in a lamb’s clothing, remember?"_

Their voices pulled Lightning back to the present with a jerk, and she smiled across the table at Tifa.

"It's nothing," Lightning said softly, not sure whether it was Fang or Tifa that she was addressing now, but needing to reassure them both nonetheless. "Let's just... Enjoy the rare night out."

Tifa nodded, still looking a little pale, and Lightning looked down at the menu, searching her brain for a way to make this charade _easier._ Impulsively, she reached across the table, taking one of Tifa's hands in her own and squeezing it gently.

"It'll be okay. We've got this, and it will be all over soon," Lightning told her quietly, and Tifa nodded, giving her a weak smile. 

Lightning very much hoped that she was correct.

###

Fang was stretched out across the back seat of the car she had been sharing with Lightning since they'd started working together as Gran Pulsian task force all of their own, even if the execs still weren't giving them a sidelong look in the hallways. Her laptop was propped up on her legs and she had a headset on as she listened to Lightning make small talk with Tifa - her only visual on the two of them was from the feed from the restaurant's security cameras that she had quietly jacked into. 

While using Lightning as bait for Slasher S had been _Fang's_ idea in the first place... She was none too fond of the idea of Lightning essentially going on a date with Tifa, because that woman was a _fine_ specimen and when faced with someone that sweet and attractive, Fang really couldn't help but feel a little threatened and possessive.

That might have been why she'd scratched Lightning's back up a little more than usual last night. Or it could have been the short hair - just long enough to tug on, but soft and feathery in its new length. Fang caught herself smiling foolishly, and with an effort she schooled her features and turned her attention back to the screen on her lap. 

There had been no sign of trouble yet, and a part of Fang began to wonder if Slasher S had seen through her admittedly ridiculous plan to draw him out. She tapped on her chin thoughtfully, rapidly cycling through the different feeds from the security cameras. Nothing else to do but wait, Fang decided with a silent sigh. 

She was still examining her flow of information when she heard the first beginning of static over her headset. Fang frowned, checking the connections for the audio - no, still good. The shitty thing had a tendency to play up, Fang knew that from the last few operations she'd used it on, but given the creepiness of the current case... 

Maybe it was all those gruesome photos still playing havoc with her nerves, but Fang's gut felt tense and heavy as she shot a cautious look around the darkened car park. All she could see was empty cars, washed out from the pale lamp light, and shadows at every angle. 

Fang's lips thinned, and she reached for her lance and backup gun - just in case. 

Muting her mic and pulling the headset off, Fang quietly opened the car door and eased her way into the cold night. She was momentarily glad that she'd listened to Lightning's insistence on taking a jacket, and she tugged it closer as her breath rose into a mist in front of her. 

Fang swung her lance down sharply, activating the weapon's blades and holstering her gun. The skin at the back of her neck felt as if it was _crawling,_ and as Fang peered around in the weird mix of darkness and light in the parking lot, she began to walk. 

Even if she found nothing, Fang told herself as she bared her teeth in a forced smirk, it was better than sitting in the car and waiting for shit to hit the fan. Her circuit of the car park was slow and deliberate as she checked every shadow for unfriendly eyes, but when they had so little information on the psycho, it was hard to be certain. 

She paused as she came up beside the restaurant, tilting her head up as she stared at one of the brightly lit windows above. Fang shook her head, heaving a short sigh. 

_Light, you be careful in there. I'm getting a really bad feeling about all of this._

More and more, she wished she'd let Lightning smuggle in her blazefire saber, but Strife was a chocobo racer, not an ex-soldier. Carrying that thing around would have been a dead give-away. 

Fang resumed her walk, returning back to the car and the equipment, if only to reassure herself that all was still well with her partner and their client. As she neared the vehicle, she paused, suddenly growing very cold. Had she really left the door so ajar? Fang clenched her teeth, moving cautiously up to the car, her eyes scanning every shred of the car park - was he there with her?

Fang opened the car door with a muffled oath, feverishly taking in the way her laptop had been _split in two,_ the way the parts were gutted and sparking, and the headset - Etro, _where was the headset and radio?_ Fang searched the car for them, her breath catching in her throat. _Lightning,_ she had to get word to Lightning somehow -

"How very predictable," a low, masculine voice murmured from just behind her. Fang went rigid in terror, thinking only of Lightning and Tifa, sitting unaware in the restaurant as she failed them. 

She tried to whirl around to face Slasher S, to reach for her weapon, but something impossibly frozen rammed straight through her torso, and all of her muscles locked in surprise. Fang's breath froze, looking down shakily. The bloodied blade had been thrust straight through her chest, and she watched vaguely as redness began to well around the blade, slow at first but growing faster. Fang felt her lungs rattle as liquid began to fill one of them, and Etro, the _pain_ -

Slasher S ripped the blade from her body, and Fang could not help the scream that tore itself from her throat as she lurched forward, into the car. She lay there on broken shards of electrical equipment, bleeding out as the world swarm before her eyes in a sickening mix of pain and faintness. She couldn't move, and every gasp of air she sucked in rattled, left her needing more. 

Fang heard a low chuckle from behind her, and heard boots crunch in the gravel as he simply walked away from her. She cried out as she tried to force herself to move - why the hell hadn't he killed her? She grasped weakly at her memory of the profiles she'd created for him, the details slipping through her fingers like smoke.

_Arrogance. God complex. Control._

Fang's eyes drifted shut as the pain finally overwhelmed her.

###

Lightning hadn't heard anything from Fang in the last ten or so minutes, which was both a worry and a relief. It was possible that Fang had eventually gotten bored of her commentary and had simply done her job quietly, but Lightning had at least expected a 'goodbye' by way of a parting shot. She tried not to think about it, keeping her mind on the job at hand and playing her part as best she could.

She'd finished her meal with Tifa by that point, and since Strife rarely stayed to converse following eating, Lightning was just about to rise and get the bill when her earpiece crackled, sending painful feedback loud enough to make her flinch. 

She was going to _strangle_ Fang when she got out there -

 _"I suggest you do not move, if you do not want me to dismember every directionless soul here,"_ a voice - dark, rich, masculine and decidedly _not_ Fang's - told Lightning. 

Lightning felt the blood leave her face as her whole body went rigid, grasping the edge of the table so hard that her knuckles went white and her bones ached. That was not Fang, and the only way Slasher S would have gotten the headset was it Fang was no longer okay. 

It took every shred of control Lightning had to stay seated, not when her mind was blurring with those macabre photos and Fang was - 

She looked around the busy restaurant. Fang would be okay, Lightning lied to herself desperately. She still had to keep her head on and make sure she didn't unleash the hidden psychopath on the rest of all these innocent people. Her hands were shaking though - _Fang._

"Cloud?" Tifa asked, as Lightning reached out and seized her wrist in a bruising grasp. 

"He's here," Lightning told her quietly, marvelling silently at how steady her voice sounded. "Him. He's... He's telling us to stay seated."

Tifa's fair complexion went _grey,_ and she began to look around the restaurant, her dark eyes intense. Lightning tightened her grip on Tifa's wrist, giving it a small tug. 

"This was the plan," Lightning said, closing her eyes a moment to rally herself. She didn't dare reach for her phone, not when Slasher S could be watching them from anywhere, and Fang was the one meant to call in the Gran Pulsian force if things got out of hand. "We wait. We take him out. You got that?"

Tifa nodded, shakily at first but the movement became more sure as Lightning offered her a small smile. 

_Now to wait for the madman to call the shots,_ Lightning thought with a sinking stomach, and that was when the fire alarm began to blare. Smoke began to pour out from the kitchen, followed by several terrified cooks that were running for their lives. Chaos erupted throughout the restaurant, and Lightning wondered for a moment whether she and Tifa could take that as their cue to run or call for help from Hilda -

 _"You know better than that,"_ Slasher S told her with a dark laugh, and Lightning gritted her teeth, shaking her head at Tifa's questioning look. He was still watching them - but from where? 

He would have to make his move soon, Lightning decided as she and Tifa watched the last of the restaurant patrons vanish out the front door of the building. Smoke hung thickly in the air, hot and stuffy from the fire still raging in the kitchens - sooner or later the fire brigade would show up, and the what? 

The door to the kitchens swung open, and flame belched out as someone stepped forward from the flames. The figure was wearing a long, leather overcoat and some sort of mask to protect him from the fire roaring behind him, but it was the bloodied sword in his hand that seized Lightning's attention.

 _Fang._ Lightning couldn't look away from it, and she rose unsteadily to her feet as Slasher S approached where they'd been sitting. Now that the bastard was in her sights, there was no need to continue to play the role of Cloud Strife, and Lightning narrowed her eyes.

"What did you do to Fang?" Lightning demanded harshly, her hands reflexively forming fists as she flashed forward, too angry to heed the weapon in his hands. Slasher S caught her fist just a handspan from his face, stopping the blow with a strength that surprised her. His fingers tightened around her fist, hard enough to hurt, but Lightning allowed none of it to show on her face as she stared into his green eyes.

"You," Slasher S started, and he sounded amused as he smirked down at her. "You are not _Cloud._ An inferior replacement for an inferior puppet." 

Lightning clenched her teeth. He'd ignored the question about Fang, and it burned. The man's smirk didn't falter, as he levelled his blade at where Tifa was standing.

"You may be a fake, but she is not." Slasher S smiled, his eyes narrowing to slits as Lightning wrenched her fist from his grasp, and backed away toward Tifa. "You will both be of use in locating Cloud."

"Not going to happen," Lightning spat, drawing level with Tifa as the other woman finished pulling her combat gloves on. 

"Your co-operation need not be voluntary." Slasher S spread his hands expressively, the bloody sword flashing crimson against the flames behind him as he began to stroll forward. His stride was relaxed, both confident and unhurried.

Well, why wouldn't he be? He was the one with the weapon. Lightning wished she'd been able to bring her blazefire saber in without having compromised her cover. If all else failed, though, she still had her survival knife, and Tifa seemed more than proficient at unarmed combat. 

This was going to end badly.

###

Fang was freezing cold when she shuddered awake, her chest and face feeling sticky with drying blood as she thrashed. Blood slopped lazily from her wound, rose up and choked her, and Fang ignored the feeling of wanting to throw up. She was alive, somehow, but Etro the _pain..._

Her hands were shaking as she fumbled at her pockets, searching for her cell. She nearly laughed in relief as she came up with the item, though even that small effort had exhausted her far too easily. Blood loss, punctured lung… Fang swallowed thickly, tasting only blood, and after a few moments spent trying to catch her breath, Fang dialled out to Nobara in the investigations team. 

"This is Firion-" Nobara began, but Fang couldn't afford to waste the time or energy on pleasantries.

"Tell Hilda _he_ is at the Paddran Skyview." Fang sucked in a breath, ignoring Nobara's pleas for her to be more specific. "Tell her to bring backup and a goddamn ambulance. Make it fast."

Fang ended the call shakily, shoving the cell back into her pocket. She paused then, taking a few more shuddering breaths and trying to manage the pain. How long had she been out? She couldn't tell. Two minutes, five minutes, _twenty_ -

Fang took another shallow breath, choking on the liquid pooling in her punctured lung. It would be better if she simply sat here and waited for the paramedics, because this? This was bad. She couldn't, though. She couldn't just sit back and wait for Hilda and the cavalry to rock in and save her arse, not with Lightning and Tifa in there with Slasher S. 

Her shaking hands found the gun safely stored in the holster at her hip, and Fang smiled weakly. She looked out the rear window of the car, at the restaurant that was smouldering from one of the kitchen windows. There was no other damn choice. 

Fang's vision darkened sickeningly as she pushed herself out of the car, only remaining on her feet thanks to the death grip she was maintaining on her lance. Her chest was agony, spreading out like fire through her body. 

Somehow, in spite of the fact that she was practically drowning in her own blood, she began to stagger toward the restaurant, to Lightning, Tifa, and to Slasher S.

###

Slasher S had made short work of both Lightning and Tifa, tying them both up with cables that he had produced from the pockets of his leather coat. He'd been careful not to inflict any major injuries - yet. Lightning was optimistic, considering the situation - so long as they were both alive, they could continue to fight and delay the man. Would he flee when the firefighters arrived and take them both with him? Or would he merely kill them out of hand, and miss his chance to find Strife forever?

The fire that had started somewhere in the kitchen seemed to have steadied, confined behind the large, metal doors. Slasher S had immediately moved to bolt them shut after he'd taken Lightning and Tifa out. Lightning did not believe for a moment that Slasher S cared for their welfare - he just didn't want his time interrogating them to be cut short.

Slasher S circled them both, sword in hand, prowling about the hazy, dark room like some sort of jungle cat. He was watching them, as if reassessing their worth at every moment. Frankly, it pissed Lightning off. Keeping _her_ alive would do him no good - she wasn't about to tell him anything.

She felt the survival knife dig into the small of her back, cold against the prickle of sweat coating her body. The survival knife she could use, given the right moment.

"You. I know of you," Slasher S said finally, pausing in front of her, his blade at her throat. "Your _name_ is Claire Farron. 'Lightning'. Tell me - do you have anyone you cherish?"

Lightning was about to retort that he'd just _murdered_ her most cherished person, when she froze. Fang was her most cherished, yes, but the only one? Serah and Snow flashed to her mind, and she gritted her teeth, desperately trying to control her alarm.

"I see it in your eyes. You have family, people that you love. Hairlines of weakness in what you believed to be strength." Slasher S smirked down at her, pressing the blade closer to her throat. She felt it touch her skin, a tiny prick of pain against the dull ache of her body and the cable ties that bound her wrists behind her. "It would not be hard to track them down, should you fail to give me the information I require. After all, I'm sure your sister would crack _far_ more easily than you."

Lightning felt herself go cold, and she glared up at him, wondering if he was bluffing in his knowledge of her sister. Could she really risk Serah, though?

"And how about your _friends._ Oerba Yun Fang, was it?" Slasher S rolled the name around in his mouth, mocking it. "Stabbed through the chest and left to bleed out in the car park, all alone. A very... painful way to die." 

Lightning closed her eyes for a moment, trying to get her emotions under control. It was difficult, almost too difficult, but she swallowed her pain. She would grieve later. She had to survive now.

"How would it feel to know the same fate awaits not only you, but _her_ as well?" Slasher S asked, looking toward Tifa. He sounded coldly amused at Lightning's stubborn self-control. "How would it feel to _fail_ her?"

Lightning didn't respond, staring at the ground between his feet. She had to stop listening to him, because she knew what he was doing. Testing her resolve, seeing what it took to finally make her break - she didn't want to know where that line in the sand was. 

Slasher S laughed softly, resuming his lazy circling of Lightning and Tifa. He stopped by Tifa this time, even if his eyes remained fixed on Lightning in some sort of sick fascination. 

"Perhaps you would prefer me to press the girl's face against the burning door? Tell me, Claire Farron. Do you know what it feels like to scorch a nerve-ending with fire? Have you heard the hiss of flesh searing, heard them scream?"

Behind her, Lightning felt Tifa shudder at the threat, and Lightning swallowed unsteadily. Could she sentence _Tifa_ \- someone she she'd begun to think of as a friend - to that sort of pain? Would he do it? He would, Lightning decided coldly. She'd seen those photos Fang had produced from the file. 

The only question was, how long would he wait before he took those steps?

###

Entering the building quietly, after having been stabbed through the chest with a madman's sword and left to die, was actually easier than Fang had originally envisioned. Maybe she was simply too stubborn to give it up and keel over like the rest of the world, maybe she had enough damn motivation to keep staggering forward. Hell, maybe Fang was just hurting so badly that she couldn't feel anything but a dull ache all through her body. 

The building was dark and smoky, striping the oxygen from Fang's already meagre gasps for air, but thankfully the fire seemed well confined to the kitchen behind a pair of fire doors. She pressed herself up against the wall, her entire body feeling sluggish and weak from blood loss. Fang's breath was still rattling and choking her, and she tried to remain as silent as possible as she assessed the situation. 

Slasher S had both Lightning and Tifa sitting on the ground. Their hands had somehow been bound behind their backs, and Fang groaned softly.

Perfect.

There were lights - red and blue - flashing from out the front of the restaurant. Hilda must have gotten Fang's message and forced the fire brigade to hang back, which was a blessing. The last thing Fang wanted was for Slasher S to take any more victims than he already had. 

Slasher S was talking in that same detached, nearly amused tone he had used when he'd run Fang through, and she had to fight the urge not to shudder.

"-Claire Farron. Do you know what it feels like to scorch a nerve-ending with fire? Have you heard the hiss of flesh searing, heard them scream?"

Fang closed her eyes. He was pumping them for information, then, looking for clues as to where they'd hidden Cloud Strife. That was a relief - it meant that Slasher S held fewer cards than Fang had feared. Removing her gun from its holster with hands that were shaking from pain and blood loss, Fang flicked the safety and tracked his movements as he circled Lightning and Tifa. 

Her grip was too unsteady and weak, and with a pained groan, Fang lowered her weapon. She closed her eyes, trying to rally herself again, because she could normally make that goddamn shot. As bad off as she felt, though, she needed to be closer, or she'd miss and it would be game over for the lot of them. 

Fang tried to move silently from the shadows, trying to skirt around the room for a better angle - Slasher S paused in his restless pacing, his green eyes cutting directly to her as if she was standing in broad daylight. His lip curled, and his sword whipped down to rest at Tifa's throat. 

"You," Slasher S said, drawing the word out in a mockery. "You should be dead."

Fang felt like she should be dead, too, but she forced a feral smile to her face as she moved forward and out of the shadows. She was a little surprised that she didn't stagger, even if the sudden movement made her head swim and her breath grow ragged. The expression on Lightning's face was close to heartbreaking, but Fang couldn't let herself become distracted by that now. 

"Hate to disappoint," Fang ground out from between her clenched teeth, raising her gun in her trembling hands and training it on him. "Can't have you starting this party without me."

Slasher S watched her for a moment, his green eyes narrowed. 

"Do you truly believe you can do it?" Slasher S asked then, his confidant smirk growing once more as she didn't move to pull the trigger. "So much blood loss, so much pain... Can you be sure you would hit me, and not one of your... friends?"

He moved in an instant, hauling Tifa up from the ground and holding her in front of his body. He pressed his blade against her throat, his green eyes looking past her and into Fang's own. She bared her teeth, swearing quietly under her breath as she shook her head and tried to focus. 

Lightning was looking at her, jerking her head at Slasher S. Fang watched her slowly move her arms from behind her back, and then looked sharply back to Slasher S.

He was smirking at her from over Tifa's shoulder. Again, Fang's own work profiling the bastard flashed to mind. He believed himself to be in control, did he? He was blind and delusional then, but that could be worked to her advantage. 

"You think yourself so high and mighty, don't you?" Fang asked him, her voice tight in pain. Etro it was hard to stand, but she had to keep his attention on her. "You really believed that Lightning was _Strife,_ though. Big mistake on your part, isn't it? How very human of you."

"I did not believe Cloud capable of such tricks," Slasher S allowed, but he wasn't smirking anymore. His green eyes were intense, and Fang wondered what horrors he was planning for her for daring to call him 'human'. "It changes little. Put your gun down, and tell me where I will find-"

Lightning lashed out, hard and fast, her survival knife flashing in the pale light as she rammed the blade deeply into the back of the madman's knee. Slasher S released Tifa with a grunt, falling to his good knee while his sword clattered to the ground. Lightning, her face bloodied by the strike, scrambled backwards as he lunged for her. 

"You," Slasher S growled out, no longer in control. "You will _suffer_ -"

Lightning whirled, slamming the side of her boot into the man's jaw, and Slasher S collapsed in a boneless, bloody heap. She was breathing hard as she glared down at him, bending sharply to bind his hands behind his back with some cables she pulled from his coat pocket.

"Nice try," Lightning spat, jerking her head to move her spikes out of her battered face before she looked at Fang. The expression of victory faded into one of incredible worry, and before Fang could really process what was happening, Lightning was at her side, gently prying the gun from her hands and wrapping her arms around Fang's body. 

The pain from her chest was excruciating, but Fang didn't have any strength left as she sagged into Lightning. Her head was spinning, and Etro she was _freezing._

"C'mon Fang," Fang heard Lightning say, but her hearing was so fuzzy and everything felt indistinct. She let Lightning lower her to the ground, and listened to the sound of Lightning's boots pound against the floor as she ran for the door, for the help that probably waited out there. Tifa sank down next to Fang, her bruised face contorted in worry, pain - and relief that it was finally over.

Fang took a shallow, shuddering breath as she looked over to Slasher S, still out cold from Lightning's blow. Fang's lips twitched into a smile that she could barely feel. Even if she died now, at least she'd gotten one up on the sick bastard.

###

Even having been stabbed through the chest by an obsessed serial killer, Lightning was glad that Fang was far too stubborn to die. It had been a close call though, Lightning decided, as she sat at Fang's bedside at the Paddra General Hospital. Fang had been stabbed through the back, through the damn _lung,_ and still she'd been idiotic and brave enough to come when Lightning had needed her… 

Lightning looked down at her battered hands, clasped together so tightly that her knuckles were white and her bones ached. 

For the space of almost ten minutes, she had been convinced that Fang was _dead._ The pain had been almost more than she could bear, even if she'd tried so hard to continue the job she'd agreed up. Seeing Fang stagger into the light - bloodied, pale but _alive_ \- when Lightning had given her up for dead had been dizzying. She'd known that she could trust Fang to seize the Slasher's attention while she'd worked on freeing herself, and it had only been thanks to Fang that they'd gotten out of the situation alive at all. 

Eden, Lightning wasn't sure she could handle losing Fang again. She'd been sitting by Fang's bedside since the moment the woman had been wheeled out from surgery, and she hadn't slept a goddamn wink herself as she waited for the moment that Fang would wake up. 

The steady beep of the heart monitor was enough to make her head ache, though, and Lightning let her mind drift idly as she watched Fang sleep. 

A woman with thick, blonde hair caught up in a clip opened the door, leaning inside the doorframe a little. In her tiredness, Lightning scarcely recognised Police Chief Hilda Fynn, and with one last glance back to Fang's sleeping face, Lightning followed Hilda out of the room and closed the door softly behind her.

"How is she doing?" Hilda asked quietly, and Lightning pinched the bridge of her nose. 

"She'll live," Lightning said, exhaling sharply as she let her hand fall back to her side. "Doc says that she's damn lucky Slasher S was so _careful_ to let her die slow." 

Those same doctors had also said that Fang would be out of the field for a good month or two though. It would be quite a headache to deal with when the woman finally woke up to learn of it. 

"Executive management are... interested in the details of the case." Hilda's voice held a note of frustration, and Lightning laughed wearily. 

"I'm surprised, since the general consensus, when Fang and I want funding, is that our team exists in no official capacity." Lightning's eyes narrowed. What did _that_ mean, then?

"Lockhart and Strife have been very... effusive in their praise of the work you did." Hilda's lips were twitching then, as if she was fighting a smile. "They've been on a number of media sources to speak of their ordeal - albeit reluctantly, in Strife's case - and there appears to be a growing support in the executive management for your _unique_ take on very difficult cases."

Lightning snorted to herself. That was certainly Fang's influence on the strategies they came up with, but Lightning could not say she minded a little non-linear thinking.

"So what does that mean?" Lightning asked, crossing her arms across her chest and raising an eyebrow.

"That you will submit a report to me by Monday of next week, and following that, a formal proposal for the beginnings of a _proper_ task force. You will get your funding, Farron, and additional personnel resources should you require it." Hilda placed a hand on Lightning's shoulder, squeezing it gently as Lightning stared at her. "Good luck."

Lightning watched Hilda leave, feeling both numb and elated at once. A task force...? Funds for herself and Fang? Recognition from the Gran Pulse police force? When she'd transferred down from Cocoon, all she'd wanted was a change of scenery and a chance to work more closely with Fang but...

A reluctant smile began to curl the corner of Lightning's lips, and she pushed her way silently back into Fang's hospital room. As she resumed her vigil at Fang's beside, the woman groaned softly.

"Did Hilda come to tell me off again?" Fang asked groggily, but the stare that she pinned Lightning with seemed remarkably lucid. The bed jostled as Fang propped herself up on her elbows, and the woman let out a low hiss as the movement pulled at her injury. "If so, I seriously quit."

"Don't make me force you to take it easy, Fang. Just lie down." Lightning impulsively reached over to brush a few strands of hair away from Fang's forehead. The pain killers were likely still in effect if the woman was moving about so much. 

"It was quite the opposite, really," Lightning continued quietly, letting her fingers trail across Fang's soft cheek before pulling back. "She said there could be a task force set up, if we submit the right paperwork."

Fang's eyebrows furrowed, and she blinked rapidly. 

"A... A _task force?"_ She sounded like she couldn't believe it, and Lightning well understood that feeling. "After you cross-dressed as a famous chocobo rider and _I_ get stabbed? That's what they consider a 'good job'? Etro, now I'm wondering why they haven't given me a task force sooner."

"I think the good PR from Strife and Tifa has helped things. The media likes a good, dramatic story, and the execs are listening." Lightning reached over and laced one of her hands with Fang's, smiling. "We're coming out of this okay."

"Somehow." Fang's lips curved into a weary smile.

"But you have got to be more _careful,_ Fang. You nearly died back there, and I don't-" Lightning cut off, her voice getting a little hoarse. "Don't make me go it alone, yet."

"Not a chance, Light." Fang squeezed the hand she still held, smiling. "You're going to have to put up with me for a long time, yet." 

Lightning leaned over, capturing Fang's lips in a fervent, desperate kiss, just to reassure herself that Fang was still there. Fang threaded the fingers of her free hand through the short hair at the back of Lightning's head, responding in short, breathy kisses that made Lightning's breath catch. 

She pulled back much sooner than she'd have normally liked, stroking the side of Fang's face gently as the woman breathed out. Fang's eyelids were drooping shut, and she yawned widely.

"Get a bit more sleep. I'll be here when you wake up, Fang, same as always," Lightning told her, setting back in her chair as Fang's breath began to even out. She watched the woman sink deeper into sleep, a sense of deep satisfaction growing inside her. There would be time to deal with the media and the task force later. For now, Lightning intended to enjoy the simple sight of Fang sleeping off her exhaustion.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I hope that was something a little different than my usual. I feel like I should apologize, but I had fun? *laugh*
> 
> Notes: Hilda is Princess Hilda, the rebel princess and leader of the Wild Rose Rebellion in Final Fantasy II. Firion is one of the main player characters for Final Fantasy II.
> 
> If you'd like updates as to current projects or just want to chat, feel free to come visit me on my tumblr: [zerrat](http://zerrat.tumblr.com/) (personal) and [zerratwritesstuff](http://zerratwritesstuff.tumblr.com) (writing)!


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